The trolley woman was having none of it. “Can you keep your voice down please, and stop swearing.” The errant teenager was belligerent with her three defences. “It doesn’t say we can’t talk” was a reference to the Quiet Coach Rules, which forbid only loud music, the use of mobile phones (quaintly, as phones) and…
And so that was Christmas . . .
So that was Christmas and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun. So what have we done?
Victory for the Volcanoes
This is an island born of volcanoes and ruled by volcanoes; its people destined ever to be subject their dictatorial tyranny. It is an island constructed of lava, illuminated by lava and then laminated in lava. Like a burning candle which decorates itself in its own molten wax before it too hardens. Like a chocolate…
Perchance to Sleep
We are as sleep-deprived nation. This is because sleep is for wimps. It is a waste of precious time. Hours we could utilise more efficiently to grind through our task list, clear down our inbox, build up our social network or soak up more electronic moving images. My wife says she enjoys sleep, which is…
The Press – The Only Way is Ethics
And so the Leveson report has finally been published, re-igniting the well-worn debate about the freedom of the press versus the rights and privacy of ordinary people (and Hugh Grant). What sort of press do we want? Do we want one which is controlled by an independent authority, policed and punished whenever it transgresses a…
Floods on Trains
Who would have thought that a few drops of innocent rain could cause national railway mayhem? I had smiled smugly as I booked my reserved seat on the 7.50am train from Derby straight through to Southampton. Not for me the nightmare of flooded roads and waterlogged engines. Not for me an endless night freezing in…
The Empty Nest?
The nest is empty. The chicks have flown. Now they fluff their own plumage, feather their own nests and jump up early enough to catch their own worms. We taught them all we knew and some things we didn’t know. And they taught us quite a bit in return. Like how being mum and dad…
Invisible Death
I used to travel through the labyrinth of the Kings Cross Underground twice a day before I left London in 1987. This was written after I returned, some months after the awful fire in which so many died. I am publishing this exactly 25 years after that tragedy. No evidence of that night of death.…
Things not to do on your Birthday
Reflections on my 53rd birthday 1. Don’t calculate how far through your life you are. Too late. I am taking an online “life-expectancy calculator” and ploughing through a plethora of questions. I am wondering why my marital status, level of education or frequency of flossing will affect the length of my remaining life. Or why…
Burning Issues – Geo-politics and Small Fires
With the inexorable rise of the internet, maybe the final resting place for the newspaper is in the kitchen. The morning after the presidential election, the Guardian’s updated political map of the USA lay casually across the kitchen table, like a multi-coloured tablecloth. Each state was a mosaic of reds and blues depending on their…
Unwrapping The World 